The Car That We Had To Have Doesn’t Work So Well With Baby

Driving down I-95 one Sunday evening after a weekend in Philadelphia, my wife said to me “wow, what is that Jeep? I LOVE those chrome handles!” Having zero kids, and no real concern for the environment, we went Jeep shopping and ended up with a 2006 Jeep Commander, with the HEMI engine of course and the 13MPG that came along with it. She had to have the chrome handles and as a man, I needed to have the HEMI engine. The Jeep was a great truck, although when gas was hovering around $4 a gallon, I hated everything about it, but the sweet saddle-brown leather, 330HP, and the “I could drive over you if I wanted to, punk” feeling kept me going. We also thought, seating for 7 means we can have 5 kids and still drive through 24 inches of mud. Thing is, an SUV that is high off of the ground (and really not that roomy inside) isn’t great for kids. The liftgate is big and heavy and can become very annoying if your constantly opening and closing it to get the stroller out. Like I said, it’s pretty high off of the ground so getting the bulky travel system car seat in and out of the backseat is a royal pain…and it only fits in the middle of the second row! so much for 5 kids…at least so much for 5 kids in car seats. Personally, I drive an Audi wagon similar to the one mentioned in a previous post and tossed my wife the keys for a few days. Within minutes, she agreed that the Jeep is too much, the Audi a bit too little.

My greatest fear has been realized…will we end up in a minivan? Oh dear god, I’m going to be that suburban dad, carting around my kid and 6 of her friends in our minivan. OK we only have one kid, I’m being dramatic, but we do need a new vehicle that is small wife (5 feet and some change) and HUGE baby (13+lbs/25 inches at 9 weeks) friendly. I think we’re part of the crossover target demographic. A vehicle that in the past I viewed as useless…dismissing it for people with too much crap to buy a car or not a big enough ego to get a gas swilling SUV…but here I am, on the verge of “needing” a small SUV/crossover (or maybe a big sedan).

So where do we start? I guess a budget would be a good place, but with some manufacturers throwing $40k cars at you with 0% financing, or willing to lease you something that normally would be a $600+/mo car payment for $350/month, I have to say, we’re open. Anything will be considered. I found myself looking at the Audi Q5, Mercedes ML (Diesel) all the way to the Honda Element and Toyota Highlander. Unlike myself, my wife prefers function over form, as long as it’s a little bit unique and/or has funky styling. Also, new or used (with remaining warranty/CPO) doesn’t matter. Decent gas mileage is a plus. Also, power liftgate is a borderline requirement (if it’s an SUV/crossover).

Hopefully, I can get Mrs. New Mom to chime in here, but a few of the vehicles that we’re going to strongly consider are the following:

• Audi Q5
• Audi Q7 (Used 6 cylinder model)
• BMW 3-Series Wagon
• Lexus RX
• Toyota Highlander
• Audi A6
• Honda Element (you laugh, but it’s getting a test drive)
• Mercedes GLK Series (I’ve pretty much ruled this one out as it gets VERY expensive once you add a few options)
• your suggestions…

So please, if you have some suggestions, or know of anything that we might want to consider, please let us know. Also, I’m a sucker for a great deal (which is how I ended up with a Jeep at 0% financing and 6 months w/o a payment) so any deals you might know of, let me know in the comments. Expect to have some reviews posted here in the near future…even though we’re probably a couple of months off from making the purchase, we’re going to start auditioning a few vehicles to nail down the size and shape we’re looking for.

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